20 February 202115 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Actor Richard Blackwood, reveals new role tackling racism in the police

Alder Tribute Mural — Alder Tribute – Hull graffiti artist Preston Fox

source: Metro News
published: 19 February 2021

Hollyoaks’ Richard Blackwood has revealed that he hopes people will be ‘more receptive’ to his upcoming project in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Typical, a play by Ryan Calais Cameron, tells the true story of former paratrooper Christopher Alder, 37, who choked to death while handcuffed and lying on the floor of a police station in Hull in 1998. The inquest jury in 2000 returned a verdict of unlawful killing, and in 2002, five police officers went on trial, but all the officers were acquitted on the orders of the judge. The play originally premiered at the Soho Theatre back in 2019.

Richard – who portrays Felix Westwood in Hollyoaks — recorded the show in the summer of 2020 as Black Lives Matter protests took place all around the world following the death of George Floyd.

15 January 202115 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Family waits seven years for answers over the death of Leon Briggs

all credits: ITV News
published: 13 January 2021

A family’s seven year wait for answers over the death of Leon Briggs after being taken into police custody has started at an inquest in Milton Keynes.

The 39-year-old father of two was detained at Luton police station in 2013. He was later found unconscious in his cell and taken to hospital where he died.

Opening the inquest in Milton Keynes, coroner Emma Whitting said no family should have to wait the length of time Leon Briggs’ family has, to learn how their loved-one died.

15 January 202115 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Update on investigation into Sean Fitzgerald’s death two years on

all credits: CoventryLive
published: 5 January 2021

The investigation in to the shooting of Sean Fitzgerald by police in Coventry is still ongoing – two years after his death. Mr Fitzgerald suffered a a single gunshot wound to the chest as officers carried out a raid at an address on Burnaby Road, in Holbrooks, on January 4, 2019.

The warrant was executed by the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit and West Midlands Police, in support of a Warwickshire Police investigation.

During the incident, the 31-year-old was shot by armed police. An investigation was launched by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which routinely investigates incidents which result in death following police contact.